


feels something like summer

by aelandair



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Drug Use, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, M/M, Making Out, Marijuana, benarmie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 14:32:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15341886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aelandair/pseuds/aelandair
Summary: Summer is the time of bad decisions. And Ben is known to make quite a lot of them, especially if the heat is frying his brain cells away.Or:Ben wants to try smoking weed, and Hux remains sceptical.





	feels something like summer

**Author's Note:**

> The Kylux Summer Fest finally pulled me out of my writing slump! I'm so happy to have written something longer than a drabble for the first time since November, you don't even know.   
> Just fyi, the boys are about 17 in this story.   
> They also get high, and that is probably described inaccurately, because I have never smoked and don't have any intention to do so. Neither should you. Don't do drugs, kids.   
> The prompts from the board I chose for this are Heat/First Times/High.

> Summer's filled with breaking the rules, standing apart, ignoring your head, and following your heart.
> 
> \- Unknown

 

 

"I wanna try something."

Hux was pretty sure these words out of Ben Solo's mouth could only mean trouble.

Ben had texted him to come over just a little while ago, and now Hux sat next to him in his room and started to seriously doubt if it had been a good idea to do what Ben asked of him.

He wasn't even sure why Ben wanted him here for whatever he wanted to do, and he was kind of afraid to find out. Summer holidays were a time of too much freetime and sweltering heat, and the combination of these two often proved dangerous when it came to Ben. If it wasn't for Hux saving him from his own stupidity, Ben would have landed in the hospital with multiple broken bones several times by now. And the fact that Ben's newest idea apparently required Hux's presence meant that it would probably turn into a life or death situation.

"Do I even want to know?", Hux muttered under his breath.

Ben fixed him with a devilish smirk and started rummaging around in his bedside drawer.

And oh, what a smirk it was. It sent tingles down Hux's spine and made his stomach crawl every goddamn time. He just couldn't tell whether it was with arousal or dread.

Finally, Ben found what he was looking for and pushed the thing in Hux's face.

"Here."

Hux looked at the plastic bag for a moment, then raised one eyebrow and fixed Ben with a sceptical look.

"Weed. You want to try weed. Seriously?"

"Yes, why not?"

Hux sighed. "Because it's a terrible idea, that's why."

"But it's the teenage summer experience. As teenagers during the summer living in the suburbs we're basically _required_ to get high at least once. Honestly, Hux, have you never seen a movie?"

"I'm pretty sure you would fry away your remaining braincells if you got high in this heat. And that would be quite tragic, considering you don't have that many to begin with."

Ben pushed his bottom lip out, pouting just the tiniest bit, and Hux felt his cheeks redden. These damn _lips, god_ , Ben would be the death of him someday. Maybe getting high with Ben would make this whole crush thing easier. Weed was supposed to be relaxing, right?

 _Get a fucking grip on yourself, Armitage,_ he chided himself, trying to remind himself why smoking weed with Ben was actually a really bad idea. Because doing drugs with your crush could surely not lead to anything other than complete and utter embarassment.

"Where did you even get that stuff?", Hux asked.

"Poe knows a guy." Ben waved his hand around dismissively.

Hux snortet. "Right. Poe knows a guy. And how did you manage to actually get the weed? Did you just pester Poe until he was so annoyed he gave in?"

"Basically, yeah", Ben said with a shrug.

"Typical."

Hux sighed again. This was an incredibly bad idea. It wasn't even that he didn't want to get high. In all honesty, he'd been wanting to try it for a while. But losing control like this, around Ben of all people? Far too risky.

On the other hand, who else could he trust enough to be around when all his defences were down? Ben was his best friend after all, and Hux couldn't imagine anyone else seeing him all giggly and soft and, well, _high_.

Ben gently nudged Hux with his elbow.

"You're biting your lip. That means you're thinking about it", he said, his voice a teasing sing-song.

"Shut up."

Hux brushed Ben away. He was, in fact, biting his lip. Damn Ben and the way he sometimes noticed things about Hux he didn't even know himself.

"Come on, Armie. Please", Ben whined, throwing his arms completely around Hux, his chin resting on Hux's shoulder, his lips doing that pretty pout again.

"Ugh, okay. Okay. But only if you stop calling me that."

Ben jumped up, the plastic bag containing the joint in one hand, extending the other one to help Hux up. He was smirking in that terribly smug way again.

"Sure thing. Armie", Ben said with a wink. A fucking _wink_.

With a groan, Hux let himself be pulled up. He tried to ignore the burning in his cheeks and the tiny voice in the back of his head that was still telling him this was a bad idea. Impulse control be damned, he was going to do this.

-

The treehouse in Ben's garden was a remnant of a time when Ben and his parents still got along and spent time together. When Hux and Ben had been seven, the summer after they'd met, Ben and Han and Ben's uncle Chewie had built the treehouse together, and when it was finished, they had all climbed up here, Ben and Rey and Poe and Finn and Hux, and Han had brought them food and Leia had brought them lemonade and they had celebrated. It had been a wonderful day, Ben had been smiling the whole time, and Hux had felt so happy about finally being liked by someone who wasn't Phasma.

Ten years later, the treehouse was still a place of many happy memories. Ben and him still slept in here during the summer sometimes, if it was really warm and peaceful and the treehouse felt like an entirely different world that only belonged to them. Hux loved those nights.

Now, they weren't having an overly romantic (yet strictly platonic) sleepover. Because Ben didn't want his parents smelling weed in his room, they were lounging around in the treehouse, surrounded by countless pillows and blankets, and Hux was taking his first drag of his first joint.

He inhaled, and the smoke burned down his lungs, differently than the cigarettes he sometimes smoked did, and he coughed a bit, but not as much as Ben. Hux took a second drag right away, this time not coughing at all, then passed the joint back to Ben.

They continued like that for a while, quiet except for the occasional cough, sitting next to each other, close enough that Hux could feel Ben's warmth. Despite the air already being incredibly hot, it was pleasant, and Hux felt himself scooting closer to Ben everytime he handed over the joint, until their knees were almost touching.

"Do you wanna finish it?", Ben asked.

He was holding the joint in Hux's direction, close enough to his mouth that he gave in to the dumb idea forming in his brain. Instead of taking the joint from Ben's hand, he leaned forward, and closed his lips around it, so damn close to Ben's fingers, inhaling deeply, and watched the crackling of the tip as it burned down.

Hux pulled back, holding the smoke in his lungs for a moment, before shifting just the tiniest bit closer to Ben and blowing the smoke in his direction. Ben stared at him, without saying anything, his face completely flushed, his mouth gaping open. Hux felt blood rush to his own cheeks in repsonse.

Fuck.

Why had he done that? He literally couldn't be more obvious. _You dumb idiot, now you freaked him out and he's going to realize and he's going to hate you and it's all because you went along with his stupid fucking idea._

Ben cleared his throat, interrupting Hux's inner monologue, and put the remaining bit of the joint out in the old ashtray he had brought with him, before lying back and settling in the sea of comfortable pillows. Hux looked at him for a moment, then decided to ignore all possible worst-case-scenarios for now and lay down next to Ben.

"Fuck, I've never been so relaxed in my life", Ben mumbled, a lazy smile on his face.

"That's actually kind of sad."

Ben turned over onto his side, looking at Hux with furrowed brows.

"Why?" His hair was falling across his forehead, and Hux's fingers were itching to stroke it away.

Instead, Hux turned over as well, looking directly at Ben, their noses almost touching now. This wasn't really better, the urge to touch Ben just became stronger. Hux tucked his hands under his head.

"Well, there are a lot of things that could get you really relaxed, completely without drugs", he explained.

"Like what?"

Hux thought about it for a moment, then raised his hands and began counting on his fingers.

"Warm bubble baths for example. Or playing with cats. Or driving in a car really late at night on a nearly empty road with music on. Or looking up at the stars in the summer, when the wind is so nice on your skin, you know?"

For a moment, Ben stared at him, almost thoughtful, before starting to laugh.

"Hey, that's not funny!"

"It really is", Ben wheezed.

Heat crept onto Hux's face again. He'd known this would be embarassing. He didn't even feel that high, but apparently he couldn't trust his senses anymore, seeing as he had just started rambling some sentimental bullshit that made Ben laugh at him.

"Oh, no, Armie, stop looking so angry." While trying to catch his breath, Ben held onto Hux's shoulder. "It's just... you sound like you came straight out of some hipster indie movie and that's just... hilarious."

Hux couldn't help but grin. _Straight_ , right.

"You mean, the kind of movie where they smoke weed in treehouses the whole summer?", he asked.

Ben's laughter was slowly dying down, only small giggles escaping him now. He nodded.

"Yes, that kind of movie."

He moved his hand from Hux's shoulder to his arm, sending a shiver through Hux when he touched bare skin and continued, sliding down Hux's arm and tapping against Hux's wrist, slowly intertwining their fingers.

Hux's breath caught in his throat when Ben continued to hold on and looked at Hux with a crooked smile on his face, and a soft sparkle in his eyes. Ben looked good like this, relaxed and smiling. Hux bit his lip. When had that happened? The whole hand holding, looking softly at each other thing? When had the mood changed like that, and how had he not realised it? Had there even been a noticeable shift or had Ben just decided to do whatever he wanted, like he always did, and acted out the first impulse that came to his mind?

"Armie", Bun mumbled, pulling on Hux's hand gently.

Hux frowned. "I told you not to call me that. You know I don't like my first name."

"Yes, I know, but you don't mean it when you say I shouldn't call you that. I always did, and you like it."

Hux opened his mouth, tried to object, but found he couldn't. Ben was right, of course. This seemed to be a habit of Ben, always knowing what went on in Hux's brain, sometimes more than Hux did himself. Well, almost always. There were still things Ben didn't know about Hux. Like how badly he wanted to taste Ben's lips, and touch his hair, and press as close as possible to him, despite the summer heat.

"And now, stop frowning. You shouldn't frown. We're having fun, you're not allowed to frown", Ben said determined, and reached out with his unoccupied hand to sooth out the wrinkles on Hux's forehead.

Snorting, Hux batted his hand away. "Okay, no frowning. Just relaxing and fun. Got it."

"Yes, like this. See, you're laughing now!"

"I'm really not", Hux said, though he couldn't keep a smile from spreading on his face.

Ben smiled back at him, for a moment looking almost dreamily at Hux. He was still holding Hux's hand, and he tapped his free one lightly on Hux's cheek.

"I really like it when you smile, you know?", Ben whispered.

His voice sounded different now, like he was telling Hux a secret, and Hux couldn't help but shift a little closer again. His chest and his head and his whole body felt somehow lighter than just a few moments ago.

"You're really pretty when you smile", Ben continued, a soft, oh so pretty smile on his own face.

Wait. What? Ben thought he was pretty? How?

Hux felt himself flush again, and saw that Ben's face became red too, almost comically fast.

"Ugh, sorry", Ben murmured, dragging his free hand over his face to hide behind it, then peeking over his fingers and looking at Hux again. "But it's true. You _are_ really pretty when you smile. And also when you don't smile. You're just generally really pretty. Just, _especially_ when you're smiling. Ugh, sorry. I'll just stop embarassing myself now."

At a loss for words, Hux stared at Ben for a few seconds, his mouth hanging open. Ben thought he was pretty. A giddy feeling spread in his stomach and made his whole body tingle, especially his hand that was _still holding_ Ben's hand. He cleared his throat, trying to get his thoughts back on track, and mostly failing.

"Thanks. I think you're really pretty too", he whispered.

Fucking shit.

A part of him was screaming at him to go and bury himself immediately, but another, much more prominent part told him to not worry about what he'd said too much, was almost proud of him for saying something so painfully true. Hux wasn't sure which part he should listen to, and bit his lip, feeling his cheeks continue to burn.

Ben stared at him in shock, and seemed to get even redder than before. At least he was embarassed too.

"Really?", Ben asked, his voice sounding like he didn't believe Hux at all.

"Yes, really."

Hux nodded, and Ben continued to stare at him for a moment, before the sweetest smile started spreading on his lips, and his whole face lit up. Hux's breath caught in his throat. Looking at Ben felt like looking at the sun, so bright and beautiful, and somehow impossible to look away from. His heart was beating so hard he was sure Ben could hear it, when Ben started giggling.

"Thanks", Ben said, drawing his hand up to cover his face again, looking almost bashful but still happy.

Hux couldn't think of any words, so he just nodded and took a deep breath. He felt himself relax again, pretty sure it was because of the weed, but not really caring. Ben's giddyness was starting to rub off on him.

 _Ha, rub off_.

Hux snorted loudly, and Ben jumped, then started laughing.

"Why did you just snort like that?", Ben wheezed out.

Hux couldn't help but laugh too. "Doesn't matter, I just thought something funny."

"And what?", Ben asked.

Instead of answering, Hux just shook his head. He would definitely not tell Ben that he laughed about sixth-grade-dick-jokes. Ben would never let him live that down.

Apparently, Ben wasn't satisfied by Hux's lack of response. He poked Hux's side, now with an evil glint in his eyes. Hux tried to wiggle away, but Ben wasn't backing down, his fingers seeking out the spots that got Hux howling with laughter.

"Ben! Stop, oh god, please!"

Hux knew he wasn't very convincing, seeing as he was still laughing.

Finally, he managed to catch Ben's hand, intertwining their fingers like Ben had done with his other hand, and started catching his breath. Hux was trying to scowl at Ben, who was still snickering, but he was feeling more hazy and lightheaded by the second, and couldn't even pretend to be angry at Ben.

"You're a shithead, Ben", Hux said, smiling, still not very convincing.

Ben returned the smile. "Yes, I know."

For a few seconds, they looked at each other, the reality of suddenly holding _both of Ben's hands_ sinking into Hux's brain and making him giddy, when Ben suddenly let go and sat up. Hux furrowed his brows. He already missed feeling Ben's warmth and longed to have him back down here, lying on the pillows, holding his hands.

"Fuck, it's so hot, I think I'm dying", Ben said.

Sure, it was hot, but considering Hux had been the one to be tickled mercilessly not even a minute ago, shouldn't he be the one complaining? And it wasn't even that unbearable. Last week had been far worse, temperature-wise...

Without warning, Ben pulled his shirt over his head and threw it in a corner of the treehouse, before lying back down and turning back over to Hux. He grabbed Hux's hands again and smiled.

"Much better."

Again, Hux found himself at a loss for words, suddenly unable to swallow around the tightness in his throat. He couldn't bring himself to look away from Ben's chest, naked and glistening with sweat, which should have been disgusting but really wasn't. Ben had started going to the gym in the last few months, and it was showing, _god,_ was it showing. The sight of his muscles, starting to get well defined, and his pale skin and broad shoulders made Hux's mouth water. He bit his lip. _Fuck_ , it almost hurt how much he wanted a piece of that.

"Are you ok?", Ben asked, sounding concerned.

Hux, pulled of of his thirsty daydreams, tore his eyes away from Ben's chest to look him in the eyes. Which were beautiful too, and really not helping him at all.

"Yes, sure", he croaked.

"Ok, good." Then Ben's expression changed, he bit his lip as if deep in thought, and started tapping his fingers against Hux's hands.

"Are _you_ ok?", Hux asked.

Ben nodded. "Yes. I just... I've been thinking."

"You can think?", Hux replied with a grin.

"Shut the fuck up, Armie", Ben laughed and pinched the skin on Hux's hand just enough to hurt. Hux yelped.

"Don't look at me all offended. You deserved that. Anyways, I've been thinking. And I kinda wanna try something", Ben continued.

Hux smirked. "You want to try an awful lot of things today, don't you?"

"Maybe so."

Ben didn't offer any further explanations, and Hux sighed.

"And what is this thing you want to try?"

He knew he would probably regret asking, but at the moment he didn't care whether it was a good idea to indulge Ben again.

"Well, you see..."

Suddenly, Ben sounded a lot less sure of himself, and avoided looking Hux in the eye, biting his lips again. He really needed to stop doing that, it drove Hux fucking insane.

"What is it, Ben?", he asked, noticing that Ben hadn't made any effort to continue his sentence, and that Ben's cheeks were starting to get redder again. His blush spread down his neck and chest, making Hux's eyes travel down again and linger at the oh so inviting expanse of bare skin.

"So, when I asked Poe to get some weed for me, he said... well, you know, he... he said...", Ben stuttered.

"For fuck's sake, Ben, spit it out!"

"Poe said it's nice to make out when you're high."

Ben's face was so red he looked like a tomato, and he was still looking anywhere but directly at Hux. Hux couldn't quite grasp why, he had the feeling he was missing something here. Why would something Poe had said make Ben act so awkward?

"Ok", Hux simply said.

"So...", Ben started, finally looking at Hux again, though he seemed a bit wary.

"So what?"

"Well, do you want to try?"

Hux scowled. He really wasn't getting something.

"Try what?", he asked.

"Making out!", Ben shouted.

Oh. _Oh._

"Oh", Hux whispered. He couldn't think of anything else to say, too caught up with the idea of making out with Ben to form any coherent thoughts.

Ben looked down again.

"Poe said it's nice."

Hux noticed that Ben's grip on his hands had gotten tighter, like he was worried Hux might let go. As if Hux ever wanted to let him go.

Ben had just offered to _make out with him._ The giddyness he had been feeling spread through his whole body, and his stomach lurched at the thought alone. He didn't even have to contemplate if it was a good idea. He didn't care about consequences, he just knew that Ben apparently wanted to kiss him, and that was a chance too good to pass up on.

He swallowed, then swallowed again to make sure his voice wouldn't come out too croaky.

"Uhm... yeah, sure, why not."

Damn. His voice was croaky.

Ben's eyes widened in shock, and his mouth fell open.

"Really?"

Hux nodded. "Yeah, really."

"Oh, uhm, okay, cool."

It was pretty obvious that Ben hadn't expected this response. Hux didn't care about what Ben expected or didn't expect. He had wanted to kiss Ben for months now, and he was going to do it, finally, no backing down.

Ben pulled one of his hands out of Hux's grip, instead letting it rest on Hux's cheek, which was burning red. Ben's fingers stroked a strand of hair that had fallen out of place back from his face, and where he touched, Hux's skin seemed to set itself on fire.

"So...", Ben said, clearing his throat, "I've never done this before, so I might be really bad, so, sorry about that..."

Hux couldn't help but smile at Ben's shyness, which was a huge contrast to his usual brash personality, and incredibly cute.

"Don't worry. I've never kissed anyone either", Hux admitted.

He smiled hesitantly, trying to reassure Ben, and calm his own rapid heartbeat.

"Oh, ok, cool", Ben mumbled.

Then leaned closer.

Hux could feel Ben's shaky breath on his lips and closed his eyes in anticipation, his entire body tingling with excitement. And then, Ben closed the gap between them, pressed their lips together, and in Hux's chest something warm and soft and wonderful exploded, something he never wanted to stop feeling.

Ben's lips moved slowly against his, and were even softer than he had expected, and oh so sweet. Ben tasted faintly like homemade lemonade, the one Leia always made in the summer, and like weed, which wasn't surprising. His fingers slipped into Hux's hair and pulled him closer as he tilted his head and opened his mouth against Hux's. At the first hesitant sweep of Ben's tongue, Hux pulled back and opened his eyes, already breathing heavily.

Ben moved back too, looking at Hux like a kicked puppy, completely flushed.

"Sorry, I didn't want to make you uncomfortable or anything...", he muttered.

Hux shook his head rapidly.

"No, no, everything's fine, that just felt weird at first. But it was good. Here, come here, let's just..."

He grasped Ben's hand tighter, and put the other one on Ben's bare hip to pull him closer again, tilting his head in his direction invitingly. This time, when they kissed, Hux opened his mouth first, not quite sure if he was moving his tongue and his lips right, heat blossoming in his stomach. Ben made a needy sound and tightened his grip on Hux's hair, encouraging Hux to continue because apparantly he was doing something good.

If kissing always felt like this, he never wanted to stop doing it. By all standards it was probably a mediocre kiss at best, as they were both fumbling their way through it rather helplessly, but at the moment, Hux couldn't imagine anything better.

He loved the way it made his lips tingle, made his brain hazy and his body light; it felt a bit like he was floating but at the same time deeply rooted in the treehouse, where he was now pressed against Ben's body.

It was too late to keep up any pretense, and Hux allowed himself to let his hand roam over Ben's bare chest, his back, his shoulders, arms, face, hair. He wanted to touch every part of Ben he could reach, map out his body with his fingers and memorize it.

Suddenly, Ben broke away again, and let go Hux's other hand, which he had been gripping tightly the whole time until now. Without speaking, Ben pushed up on his elbow and looked at Hux for a moment, before leaning down and going back to kissing him.

With Ben looming over him and both of his hands free, Hux let his fingers explore Ben's chest with new enthusiasm, and buried the other hand in Ben's hair. Ben bit Hux's lower lip, drawing a high, keening sound from him, and Hux tugged on Ben's hair lightly in response. Ben let out a low groan and pressed his hips down against Hux's, and _oh,_ that was something entirely new and delicious and maybe even more addicting than just kissing.

Hux felt arousal coil in his belly, and tugged on Ben's hips to bring them together again. Ben complied, lowering his whole body down onto Hux, pressing hungry, messy kisses to his lips, and grinding their hips together slowly.

His whole body felt like it was on fire, and Hux had no idea how long they'd been kissing, losing his sense of time in the movement of Ben's lips against his. He was starting to feel lightheaded, and he wasn't sure if it was because he was still figuring out how to kiss and simultaniously breathe through his nose, or if it was because, with the way Ben was now on top of him, the hot summer air felt almost oppressive.

Yes, it was definitely the heat. It was unbearable.

Hux pushed Ben away gently and smiled up at him.

"You know, this is very enjoyable, but with you on top of me I think I might sweat to death."

Ben looked dumbfounded for a moment, then started laughing and rolled off of Hux.

"Sorry", he snickered and turned his head in Hux's direction, took his hand again.

Hux couldn't help but giggle too. He had just made out with Ben. His long time crush. Finally. And it had been fucking wonderful. And Ben seemed to have enjoyed it too, if his flushed face and the bulge in his pants were anything to go by.

For a moment, they didn't move, just tried to catch their breath and looked at each other, still smiling.

"You know", Ben suddenly said, "Poe was right. Making out when you're high _is_ really nice."

Hux chuckled. "Yes, it is. Though I'm not sure how different it is when you're not."

Ben turned onto his side.

"You liked it?", he asked, now positively beaming, and his expression made Hux's heart flutter again.

Hux nodded. "Yes, I did."

And because Ben was so close and so damn adorable with that smile on his face, Hux leaned towards him and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

"I... I'm glad you liked it, because I kind of wanted to kiss you for a long time", Ben mumbled when Hux pulled back.

Warmth exploded in Hux's chest, and butterflies started swirling around in his stomach.

"I kind of wanted to kiss you for a long time too", he said, a wide grin spreading on his lips.

Ben's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

And just because he could, he kissed Ben again, this time a bit longer.

When the pulled apart again, Ben looked almost sheepish.

"You know... this whole weed stuff may or may not have been a plot so I had an excuse to kiss you", he admitted, and Hux laughed again.

"Who knew you were capable of plotting."

Ben laughed too, and poked Hux's cheek lightly.

"So... does that mean you want to do it again?", Ben asked.

"The smoking?"

Ben chuckled and shook his head, while stroking Hux's hair out of his face again. It was probably all messed up, but Hux found he still didn't really care for anything except Ben's touch.

"No, the kissing", Ben clarified.

Hux felt himself flush again at the look in Ben's eyes, something so fond that it made Hux's heart ache.

"I'd love to", he whispered, already pulling Ben closer, but unable to stop smiling as Ben kissed him.

Going along with Ben's stupid idea hadn't turned out so bad, after all.

 

**Author's Note:**

> As always, if you noticed any major mistakes, don't hesitate to tell me, because English isn't my first language and I'm always trying to learn and improve my writing!


End file.
